One last exciting update from Cusco before we leave for Queros: We have three bot flies in our group! Bot flies lay eggs on mosquitos, who then deposit the eggs in peoples skin, where they hatch into larva and grow. We realized last night that the ´infected bugbites´ that three friends had might very well be bot fly larva, so we took measures to get them out. First, we blew cigarett smoke onto them (the pictures of this are HILARIOUS; some of them may be on facebook by now). Then we taped raw meat over them for the night.
This morning, sure enough, the little larva came crawling out! If you´ve ever seen a worm crawling out of someone´s skin, you understand why I dont think I´ll be eating for a few days...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Jesus Saves
After much talk and planning, I am finally here in Cusco! The bus ride was pretty nice; plenty of leg room AND they served us tea and snacks (no joke!). Boarder control was a breeze. I realized that this was my first time ever walking through a boarder- Ive always flown until now.
Today Gina followed a nun to a money changer and she got the lowest exchange rate yet. It just shows that Jesus does save...save money, at least.
I havent seen much of Cusco yet, just the area close to our hostel. There is a great market with SO many different things: Almonds, dried apricots, smoothies, and other things that have always been rare to find in Bolivia. I even found SQUOOSH (which, as some of you know, is my favorite vegetable from nepal). From what Ive seen, Peru is pretty beautiful. It is similar to Bolivia, but everything looks a bit wealthier. There are BEAUTIFUL churches all over this city. There are even cross walks, with little flashing green men to direct you across!
Tomorrow we will begin our voyage to Nación Queros. When we will actually arrive is uncertain, as things often are in this part of the world. We probably wont be able to charter our second leg of transportion until Wednesday morning, and because of snow on the road, there is no telling how far the truck can actually take us. We will have to end up hiking in the rest of the way. Like everything else, our return to Cusco isnt set...we will probably be back in about a week. Until then, I´ll be out of touch!
Today Gina followed a nun to a money changer and she got the lowest exchange rate yet. It just shows that Jesus does save...save money, at least.
I havent seen much of Cusco yet, just the area close to our hostel. There is a great market with SO many different things: Almonds, dried apricots, smoothies, and other things that have always been rare to find in Bolivia. I even found SQUOOSH (which, as some of you know, is my favorite vegetable from nepal). From what Ive seen, Peru is pretty beautiful. It is similar to Bolivia, but everything looks a bit wealthier. There are BEAUTIFUL churches all over this city. There are even cross walks, with little flashing green men to direct you across!
Tomorrow we will begin our voyage to Nación Queros. When we will actually arrive is uncertain, as things often are in this part of the world. We probably wont be able to charter our second leg of transportion until Wednesday morning, and because of snow on the road, there is no telling how far the truck can actually take us. We will have to end up hiking in the rest of the way. Like everything else, our return to Cusco isnt set...we will probably be back in about a week. Until then, I´ll be out of touch!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Feliz Pascua
After a 19 hour bus ride, we are finally back in La Paz.
It took us an extra day to leave Rurre because Alex, unfortunately, contracted Dengue Fever. And salmonella. AND paracites. Needless to say, he wasnt feeling too hot. He´s feeling much better now and Ive never met someone who is so positive when they feel so shitty. Only Alex would go behind the nurse´s back to speed up his IV so he could leave sooner!
In the States, Easter´s approach has probably been pretty obvious. But here in Bolivia, it has really snuck up on me! I didnt even realize it was Holy Week (Semana Santa) until Wednesday night when we finally questioned why the hardware store was playing The Passion of the Christ on their TV. (If youve ever seen the movie, you understand why it could be a little unnerving to see playing carelessly in a tienda...)On Thursday night, a few of us went to the Catholic church along the Plaza. It was a beautiful experience, and it reminded me a lot of the Anglican Church in Belize City which I have spent several Easter Sundays attending.
We´ve had one day to stretch our legs after the trip from Rurrenbaque(I accomplished this mostly by walking around to shop. A lot.). Now I will be spending all of Easter day back on a bus. This time, we will be heading to Peru. We will spent a short day in Cuzco then head to a community called Nación Queros. Queros is a rural community that has managed to perserve Incan culture despite colonization and modernization. It is supposed to have some of the most amazing weavings and textiles in the world. We will be doing homestays there for a few days before moving on to explore a bit more around Cuzco, and maybe Lake Titicaca.
It took us an extra day to leave Rurre because Alex, unfortunately, contracted Dengue Fever. And salmonella. AND paracites. Needless to say, he wasnt feeling too hot. He´s feeling much better now and Ive never met someone who is so positive when they feel so shitty. Only Alex would go behind the nurse´s back to speed up his IV so he could leave sooner!
In the States, Easter´s approach has probably been pretty obvious. But here in Bolivia, it has really snuck up on me! I didnt even realize it was Holy Week (Semana Santa) until Wednesday night when we finally questioned why the hardware store was playing The Passion of the Christ on their TV. (If youve ever seen the movie, you understand why it could be a little unnerving to see playing carelessly in a tienda...)On Thursday night, a few of us went to the Catholic church along the Plaza. It was a beautiful experience, and it reminded me a lot of the Anglican Church in Belize City which I have spent several Easter Sundays attending.
We´ve had one day to stretch our legs after the trip from Rurrenbaque(I accomplished this mostly by walking around to shop. A lot.). Now I will be spending all of Easter day back on a bus. This time, we will be heading to Peru. We will spent a short day in Cuzco then head to a community called Nación Queros. Queros is a rural community that has managed to perserve Incan culture despite colonization and modernization. It is supposed to have some of the most amazing weavings and textiles in the world. We will be doing homestays there for a few days before moving on to explore a bit more around Cuzco, and maybe Lake Titicaca.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
¨Dont Touch! Its Spikey and Covered in Ants!¨
The amazon is...intense.
It is hotter and buggier than you could ever imagine. There are trees that walk (actually), poisonous worms that look like mustaches, trees that are 2,000 years old, and bullet ants that are 2 inches long. THERE ARE SO MANY ANTS. As we hiked through the jungle, we heard descriptions and warnings for all the plants and animals we saw. Almost all of them included the phrase ¨dont touch this...its spikey, poisonous, and covered in ants.¨
Our first few days on the boat trip were really nice. Actually, it was like being on vacation! Everything was cooked and cleaned for us by the guides, and we spent most of the day enjoying ourselves in the shade on the boat. Sometimes we would adventure into the jungle and walk to waterfalls and swimming holes, were we cool off and hide from bugs under the water. Our last night we went mud diving into quick sand, which was an experience I will NOT forget.
On our thrid day, we arrived in Asuncion, a small village of 35 families, no electricity, and community water spigots. We slept together in the old, empty school house, crammed under seven mosquito nets which were always swarming with insects every morning. The group split up among several houses for meals everyday. The ¨vegetarian hut,¨ as we fondly called it, was some of the best food Ive had in Bolivia so far. Our candlelight dinners were always a highlight of the day.
Asuncion is a very tropical town with a tropical lifestyle. It was never decided what we would be doing until five minutes before we were going to do it.
The purpose of our stay in Asuncion was ¨volunteering.¨ I put ¨volunteering¨ quotes because they really did us the favor by finding work for us to do. Usually they just put machetes in our hand and had us chop stuff down. We spent several days clearing a trail for tourists, and another afternoon chopping down trees and vines in a banana field. My favorite activity was ¨volunteer birdwatching¨ which I did with a Bolivian biologist conducting a census on green and yellow macaw parrots in the area. It was a slow project and required a tolerence of boredom, but it was truly incredible to watch dozens of birds flock back to their nests as the sun began to lower.
The rest of our days were occupied with various tasks. One night I went fishing with all ¨the boys¨ and a few village men. We caught one fish the whole night and we didnt get back until nearly 1:00am, but it was still a good time. It was cool to be on the water so late and wonder what creatures were hiding in the dark jungle along the shore.
In the afternoons, when the heat was too hot to handle, we would shed our clothes and ¨bathe¨ in the river. The river was so full of mud and silt that we would usually come out dirtier than we started, but it was still always nice to cool off. After swimming, we would sit around and eat fruit.
The best part of being in the amazon is the fruit. I never dreamed that Id pick a starfruit off of a starfruit tree to eat, but now I have. I have also eaten more oranges and grapefruits than I have in my life combined; they simply COVER the ground in Asuncion and all the surrounding areas. All the things we pay high prices for in the exotic produce secion of Food Lion are found here, growing wild in the jungle.
Asuncion was such a lovely place; although we´d been there less than a week, I was sad to leave this morning.
After an hour long boat ride we arrived in the Amazonian tourist hub of Rurenbaque. With the paved roads, electricity, and large number of gringos, I am experiencing a bit of culture shock. We will be here for another day, then head back to La Paz to plan the last (!!!!) 3 weeks of our journey.
It is hotter and buggier than you could ever imagine. There are trees that walk (actually), poisonous worms that look like mustaches, trees that are 2,000 years old, and bullet ants that are 2 inches long. THERE ARE SO MANY ANTS. As we hiked through the jungle, we heard descriptions and warnings for all the plants and animals we saw. Almost all of them included the phrase ¨dont touch this...its spikey, poisonous, and covered in ants.¨
Our first few days on the boat trip were really nice. Actually, it was like being on vacation! Everything was cooked and cleaned for us by the guides, and we spent most of the day enjoying ourselves in the shade on the boat. Sometimes we would adventure into the jungle and walk to waterfalls and swimming holes, were we cool off and hide from bugs under the water. Our last night we went mud diving into quick sand, which was an experience I will NOT forget.
On our thrid day, we arrived in Asuncion, a small village of 35 families, no electricity, and community water spigots. We slept together in the old, empty school house, crammed under seven mosquito nets which were always swarming with insects every morning. The group split up among several houses for meals everyday. The ¨vegetarian hut,¨ as we fondly called it, was some of the best food Ive had in Bolivia so far. Our candlelight dinners were always a highlight of the day.
Asuncion is a very tropical town with a tropical lifestyle. It was never decided what we would be doing until five minutes before we were going to do it.
The purpose of our stay in Asuncion was ¨volunteering.¨ I put ¨volunteering¨ quotes because they really did us the favor by finding work for us to do. Usually they just put machetes in our hand and had us chop stuff down. We spent several days clearing a trail for tourists, and another afternoon chopping down trees and vines in a banana field. My favorite activity was ¨volunteer birdwatching¨ which I did with a Bolivian biologist conducting a census on green and yellow macaw parrots in the area. It was a slow project and required a tolerence of boredom, but it was truly incredible to watch dozens of birds flock back to their nests as the sun began to lower.
The rest of our days were occupied with various tasks. One night I went fishing with all ¨the boys¨ and a few village men. We caught one fish the whole night and we didnt get back until nearly 1:00am, but it was still a good time. It was cool to be on the water so late and wonder what creatures were hiding in the dark jungle along the shore.
In the afternoons, when the heat was too hot to handle, we would shed our clothes and ¨bathe¨ in the river. The river was so full of mud and silt that we would usually come out dirtier than we started, but it was still always nice to cool off. After swimming, we would sit around and eat fruit.
The best part of being in the amazon is the fruit. I never dreamed that Id pick a starfruit off of a starfruit tree to eat, but now I have. I have also eaten more oranges and grapefruits than I have in my life combined; they simply COVER the ground in Asuncion and all the surrounding areas. All the things we pay high prices for in the exotic produce secion of Food Lion are found here, growing wild in the jungle.
Asuncion was such a lovely place; although we´d been there less than a week, I was sad to leave this morning.
After an hour long boat ride we arrived in the Amazonian tourist hub of Rurenbaque. With the paved roads, electricity, and large number of gringos, I am experiencing a bit of culture shock. We will be here for another day, then head back to La Paz to plan the last (!!!!) 3 weeks of our journey.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
El Plan
Bellow is ´the plan´ for our next few weeks, but take it with a grain of salt because as we have learned recently, things dont always happen the way they are supposed to...
10 hour bus to Guanay
2-3 day boat trip down the Amazon River
4-5 days in Asunción, working on a community project making thached roofs
some days in Rurenbaque, looking into rainforest ecology and HOPEFULLY eating wild chocolate
then back to la paz!
10 hour bus to Guanay
2-3 day boat trip down the Amazon River
4-5 days in Asunción, working on a community project making thached roofs
some days in Rurenbaque, looking into rainforest ecology and HOPEFULLY eating wild chocolate
then back to la paz!
Its a Small World After All
Its a small world, after all.
I was sitting in the lobby of our hostel in La Paz when I suddenly saw Emily McCain walk down the stairs! I knew she was in this part of the world, but neither one of us was supposed to be in La Paz at the time. Who would have guessed we´d end up in the same hostel!
Emily was just another familiarity to add to the rest of the comforts of La Paz: touristy shops, Israeli food, supermarcados, paved roads. Seeing her made me realize why Ive been so uncomfortable in the city. She made me realize that familiarity has become, well, unfamiliar.
Today is the official marker of ¨one month left¨ in Bolivia. AH! What am I going to do when I have to stay in one place? When everything is familiar? I guess I will have to cross that bridge when I get there.
We bought bus tickets to Guanay today. Simply getting to the bus terminal was an adventure in itself, due to the protests in the streets and the dynamite being set off in demonstration. Tomorrow morning we will leave La Paz and finally head into the Amazon! The Amazon is a jungle that remains unfamiliar to even those who live there. It is so dense, and it hides so much. I cant wait to explore a bit of it!
I was sitting in the lobby of our hostel in La Paz when I suddenly saw Emily McCain walk down the stairs! I knew she was in this part of the world, but neither one of us was supposed to be in La Paz at the time. Who would have guessed we´d end up in the same hostel!
Emily was just another familiarity to add to the rest of the comforts of La Paz: touristy shops, Israeli food, supermarcados, paved roads. Seeing her made me realize why Ive been so uncomfortable in the city. She made me realize that familiarity has become, well, unfamiliar.
Today is the official marker of ¨one month left¨ in Bolivia. AH! What am I going to do when I have to stay in one place? When everything is familiar? I guess I will have to cross that bridge when I get there.
We bought bus tickets to Guanay today. Simply getting to the bus terminal was an adventure in itself, due to the protests in the streets and the dynamite being set off in demonstration. Tomorrow morning we will leave La Paz and finally head into the Amazon! The Amazon is a jungle that remains unfamiliar to even those who live there. It is so dense, and it hides so much. I cant wait to explore a bit of it!
Monday, April 11, 2011
A Series of Un(Fortunate) events
The past week has been quite an...adventure. Our instructors have asked us not to ´sensationalize,´ and Im a bit overwhelmed thinking about writing out all the details anyways, so I am going to go through the past week as basically as possible and you can infer the details.
Last monday, those of us who stayed in Sorata got into mobilidad and headed out to meet up with the rest of the trekking group. The road we took was, well, not really a road. It was mostly a foot trail covered with big rocks and often drowning in water that flowed from the mountainsides around us. At times, the road hugged cliffs so close we had to make 3-point-turns to make it up the switchbacks. The climax was when the driver stopped and declared that it was simply impossible to go on; the road was too un-roady and it was f***ing up his car. When we pressed him harder, he demanded a double in his salary and we continued onward. After the six hours I spent sitting on the floor in the trunk, I was happy to be reunited with the group at their campsite.
That night it was cold, but clear for the first time in a while. The stars were beautiful so many of us decided to sleep outside on the grass. It was nice until I woke up in the morning and found my sleeping bag COVERED in ice. Even the part around my head was icy- the part where a body releases most heat- if that gives you an idea of what temperature was inside my sleeping bag.
I stuffed my icy sleeping bag into my backpack, and my backpack was added to the pile for the small mule heard to carry. Despite the addition of six new trekkers to the group, no extra mules were found to be hired, so we continued on with the same number of animals, loaded with twice the amount of stuff.
Part of the nine hour day included climbing up and over a snowy pass. Despite the snow, we were warm because of the sun. At the top, we took a break to snap photos of the view, make snow angels, and have a snowball fight. Close behind us came the mules, and that is when the trouble began. The mules couldnt pass through the snow because it was too deep. Several of them got stuck and had to be push/pulled out by the mule handlers; it was actually very sad and scary to watch. As we sat among the rocks, brainstorming possible solutions, the clouds rolled in bringing sleet, rain, and snow. It became clear that the mules would not be able to make it over the pass without help, so we headed back up to the top to carry all our gear, by hand, to the bottom. Loaded down with full backpacks, day packs, a tank of kerosene, a large gas stove, tents, and food, we headed back over the pass in what had quickly escalated to a HAIL storm!
At the bottom of the snow, as we paused to reload the mules, the skies cleared and the sun reappeared. Continuing on, we couldnt help but notice that the weather was matching our situation.
But as we have learned, sunshine in Bolivia only lasts for so long. By the time we were setting up tents that evening, it was pouring rain. Before the last tent stakes were put in, it was snowing. And it kept snowing. And SNOWING. In fact, it kept snowing all night- so much that it weighed down the walls of our tent until we were all wrapped around the center pole just to stay dry. The snow on the ground rose up so high that it blocked the airspace around the bottom of the tent, and we had to dig tunnels to create breathing room. Perhaps the worst thing was that my sleeping bag (like many others´) was wet from the ice that had melted off of it in my backpack during the day. Just because synthetic sleeping bags still insulate when they are wet doesnt mean that they are warm or comfortable.
Most of us stayed awake all night because of the cold, but that doesnt mean the whole time was miserable. Between shivers, we laughed a lot at the crazy situation we found ourselves in; it honestly felt surreal.
The morning was a blessing. The sun came out, strong and hot, and when I emerged from the tent (harder than you might expect, since our zipper pull had broken off from the cold the previous night...) I found myself in a winter wonder land. We got the news (good or bad, depending on your view) that due to the harsh weather and the injured mules, we would be getting picked up early from the trek. All we had to do was walk a few hours to Amawayu (a small village with a small road) where our mobilidad would be waiting to take us to La Paz.
With the exitement of getting out several days ahead of schedule, we walked fast and arrived at Amawayu early. So we waited for the mobilidad. And waited. After many hours we learned that our transport had been spotted on the road, blocked by too much snow. So we settled down in the local school house for a warmer, dryer night.
We spent the following day waiting for our new transportation- a standard pickup truck that claimed 17 people + gear would have no problem fitting in the truck bed. Seven hours late, our driver arrived, as promised, but then delivered the news that he was no longer available to take us back. We headed back into the school house for another night.
Through all of this, our three lovely instructors were saints. They spent hours on the satelite phone, trying to contract (and re-contract, and re-re-contract) transportation, and worrying that we were cold, upset, or frustrated. They neednt have worried so much, because despite all the adversities, the experience was pretty incredible. In fact, Id call it almost Fortunate. The snow brought us together and made it clear how much everyone was willing to sacrifice for each other. And being stranded in Amawayu was actually a lot of fun: we made banana pudding, played card games, and stayed up all night talking.
The instructors, more than anyone, needed a break after dealing with our ´adventure´ so we have pushed back our Amazon trip and have spent the past few days in La Paz. Ive eaten falafal twice since we´ve been here, and Im pretty happy. Our hostel has TVs in some rooms, and Harry Potter 5 was on the other night!!!! I think Dragons is trying to compensate for the ¨difficulties¨ we´ve encountered over the past week by putting us up somewhere nice. Like I said, I never thought the ¨difficulties¨ were too difficult, but Im not complainting about TV and falafal, either!
(shout-out to Michaela, on the off chance you really do read this when you get home!)
Last monday, those of us who stayed in Sorata got into mobilidad and headed out to meet up with the rest of the trekking group. The road we took was, well, not really a road. It was mostly a foot trail covered with big rocks and often drowning in water that flowed from the mountainsides around us. At times, the road hugged cliffs so close we had to make 3-point-turns to make it up the switchbacks. The climax was when the driver stopped and declared that it was simply impossible to go on; the road was too un-roady and it was f***ing up his car. When we pressed him harder, he demanded a double in his salary and we continued onward. After the six hours I spent sitting on the floor in the trunk, I was happy to be reunited with the group at their campsite.
That night it was cold, but clear for the first time in a while. The stars were beautiful so many of us decided to sleep outside on the grass. It was nice until I woke up in the morning and found my sleeping bag COVERED in ice. Even the part around my head was icy- the part where a body releases most heat- if that gives you an idea of what temperature was inside my sleeping bag.
I stuffed my icy sleeping bag into my backpack, and my backpack was added to the pile for the small mule heard to carry. Despite the addition of six new trekkers to the group, no extra mules were found to be hired, so we continued on with the same number of animals, loaded with twice the amount of stuff.
Part of the nine hour day included climbing up and over a snowy pass. Despite the snow, we were warm because of the sun. At the top, we took a break to snap photos of the view, make snow angels, and have a snowball fight. Close behind us came the mules, and that is when the trouble began. The mules couldnt pass through the snow because it was too deep. Several of them got stuck and had to be push/pulled out by the mule handlers; it was actually very sad and scary to watch. As we sat among the rocks, brainstorming possible solutions, the clouds rolled in bringing sleet, rain, and snow. It became clear that the mules would not be able to make it over the pass without help, so we headed back up to the top to carry all our gear, by hand, to the bottom. Loaded down with full backpacks, day packs, a tank of kerosene, a large gas stove, tents, and food, we headed back over the pass in what had quickly escalated to a HAIL storm!
At the bottom of the snow, as we paused to reload the mules, the skies cleared and the sun reappeared. Continuing on, we couldnt help but notice that the weather was matching our situation.
But as we have learned, sunshine in Bolivia only lasts for so long. By the time we were setting up tents that evening, it was pouring rain. Before the last tent stakes were put in, it was snowing. And it kept snowing. And SNOWING. In fact, it kept snowing all night- so much that it weighed down the walls of our tent until we were all wrapped around the center pole just to stay dry. The snow on the ground rose up so high that it blocked the airspace around the bottom of the tent, and we had to dig tunnels to create breathing room. Perhaps the worst thing was that my sleeping bag (like many others´) was wet from the ice that had melted off of it in my backpack during the day. Just because synthetic sleeping bags still insulate when they are wet doesnt mean that they are warm or comfortable.
Most of us stayed awake all night because of the cold, but that doesnt mean the whole time was miserable. Between shivers, we laughed a lot at the crazy situation we found ourselves in; it honestly felt surreal.
The morning was a blessing. The sun came out, strong and hot, and when I emerged from the tent (harder than you might expect, since our zipper pull had broken off from the cold the previous night...) I found myself in a winter wonder land. We got the news (good or bad, depending on your view) that due to the harsh weather and the injured mules, we would be getting picked up early from the trek. All we had to do was walk a few hours to Amawayu (a small village with a small road) where our mobilidad would be waiting to take us to La Paz.
With the exitement of getting out several days ahead of schedule, we walked fast and arrived at Amawayu early. So we waited for the mobilidad. And waited. After many hours we learned that our transport had been spotted on the road, blocked by too much snow. So we settled down in the local school house for a warmer, dryer night.
We spent the following day waiting for our new transportation- a standard pickup truck that claimed 17 people + gear would have no problem fitting in the truck bed. Seven hours late, our driver arrived, as promised, but then delivered the news that he was no longer available to take us back. We headed back into the school house for another night.
Through all of this, our three lovely instructors were saints. They spent hours on the satelite phone, trying to contract (and re-contract, and re-re-contract) transportation, and worrying that we were cold, upset, or frustrated. They neednt have worried so much, because despite all the adversities, the experience was pretty incredible. In fact, Id call it almost Fortunate. The snow brought us together and made it clear how much everyone was willing to sacrifice for each other. And being stranded in Amawayu was actually a lot of fun: we made banana pudding, played card games, and stayed up all night talking.
The instructors, more than anyone, needed a break after dealing with our ´adventure´ so we have pushed back our Amazon trip and have spent the past few days in La Paz. Ive eaten falafal twice since we´ve been here, and Im pretty happy. Our hostel has TVs in some rooms, and Harry Potter 5 was on the other night!!!! I think Dragons is trying to compensate for the ¨difficulties¨ we´ve encountered over the past week by putting us up somewhere nice. Like I said, I never thought the ¨difficulties¨ were too difficult, but Im not complainting about TV and falafal, either!
(shout-out to Michaela, on the off chance you really do read this when you get home!)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Catching My Breath
Of course its been another busy week. But I made myself a To Do List and Ive finally checked them (almost) all off! I finished Spanish classes, took my exam, read three incredible books, spent time with my host family, and recovered my photos (which, horribly enough, were lost for a while after my memory card got a virus at the internet cafe). The majority of the group left for a trek this morning. Myself and a few others will be meeting up with them along the trail in a day or two. Its wonderfully peaceful to be away from the group with fewer responsibilities. Ive been drinking lots of api, reading up on hallucinogenic plants in the amazon, learning about how bees and other insects have abstract intelligence, and extended my research on the syncratism of religion here. Ive also been spending a lot of time on a nearby farm, with a wonderful bolivian man named David! David has an adorable cat, and has been teaching me a bit about agriculture in the Andes. After our trek, we will be boarding a boat to travel down the Amazon to a rural jungle village. Apparently, people in this village hunt for wild boar. I find this incredible because I just learned that sometimes packs of wild boars will attack, kill, and eat people in the forest. The Amazon is about to be CRAZYYYY. So the last thing on my To Do List before I leave? Shower. Its been a week since I last bathed, so I figure it is about time.
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